


The Real Monsters Are Human

by KawaiiPunkPrincess



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Foster Care, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, foster brothers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:15:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25597909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiPunkPrincess/pseuds/KawaiiPunkPrincess
Summary: The Jackson-Blofis family are on the ups. Sally's book has taken off and Paul has been taking great care of them. With Percy's baby sister, the family is complete- according to Percy that is. But when his parents decided to take in a troubled foster teen, fresh out of Juvie, how will Percy learn to adjust? And if the Gods were laughing at him above, Percy's body has decided he didn't get enough embarrassment going through puberty the first time. With Percy body betraying him at every chance, his relationship with his long term girlfriend Annabeth begins to struggle. Percy slowly begins to learn about Nico's dark past, and in turn, the boy learns about his.Foster Brother AU
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	The Real Monsters Are Human

A squeal of delight rang through the room as a brown-haired toddler came zooming into the living room, followed by her older brother who was chasing her on all fours. He made a snarling noise and reared up on his knees before crashing back down to the floor and chasing after the girl again. The toddler made a bee-line for the foam sword that was laying discarded on the floor with the rest of her toys. Grabbing it with both hands, she swung the sword on the monster-brother that was behind her. The toddler jutted the sword with all her might and stabbed her older brother. He made a wailing sound before collapsing to the ground.

“The great demigod Estelle Blofis has slain the monstrous minotaur! Oh! The pain!” The black-haired teen wailed dramatically, causing his little sister to squeal delightfully again. Estelle jumped on her brother, the latter wrapping the toddler in his arms and tickling her mercilessly. “But, alas! It was a trick! For I-” Their playing was cut off by the sound of knock at their apartment door.

“Mom! Door!” 

“Percy! Can you get it please? Paul and I are still in the shower!” Percy’s mom called from the bathroom. Percy grimaced.  _ Old people are gross.  _ He sighed and gently removed his little sister from his lap. He pulled himself up off the floor and walked over to the door. Checking out the peephole first, he didn’t recognize the woman that was standing out in the hallway. The lady looked stuffy and cold like she could be a math teacher or a monster in disguise. But he knew that the games he played with his little sister were the works of fantasy and the real monsters were human. He opened the door as far as it could open with it still being latched at the top.

“Who are you, lady?” Percy called out to her, looking back in his little sister’s direction to make sure she was still okay. The woman straightened out her cardigan and leaned in closer to the door.

“My name is Ms. Dodds. I’m a social worker with CPS and-” Ms. Dodds didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence because the gap in the door was slammed in her face. Percy’s heart started pounding as he paced around the room, trying to get his bearings before hatching a plan. Suddenly, a plan came to him. A very ill-conceived plan, but a plan nonetheless. He scooped up his little sister in his arms and rushed into her nursery. In one arm he balanced Estelle on his hip and with his free one he grabbed a diaper bag and started loading it up. He must’ve been making quite a ruckus because the next thing he knew, a freshly dressed and showered, and albeit very concerned mother was rushing into the nursery with him. 

“Percy?” His mom called out to him, crossing the distance between them. She laid a hand on his shoulder which caused him to jump. “What’s going on, Perseus?” She asked worriedly. Percy let out a shaky breath.

“Mom, CPS is here and they’re going to take me-” Sally cut Percy off with a crushing hug.

“I’m so sorry baby! I didn’t even think about how this would affect you!” Sally cried out, holding her babies tight to her chest. “I didn’t think they were coming today or I wouldn’t have made you answer the door. We haven’t even had the chance to explain to you what’s happening.”

“What is happening?” Percy asked. Sally went to say something but then a thought occurred to her and she said something else instead.

“Percy, where is Ms. Dodds?” Sally asked. Percy bit at his lip and looked away sheepishly.

“I slammed the door in her face and left-”

“She’s still outside?!” Sally exclaimed. Sally rushed out of the nursery and to the front door. Reluctantly, Percy followed, putting down the baby stuff. He gripped Estelle tightly as he watched his mom brush some invisible lint off of her outfit and run her fingers through her wet hair before opening the door all the way. Much to Percy’s chagrin, Ms. Dodds was still out there. He tightened his grip on his sister, causing her to squirm and whimper. He loosened it immediately. 

“Ms. Dodds, I am so sorry about Percy. He was just surprised is all. Why don’t you two come in and Percy will get you something to drink while we talk?” Sally asked, gesturing for Percy.  _ Wait did his mom just say two?  _ Percy stepped closer as Ms. Dodds entered the apartment and to Percy’s shock there was someone behind her.  _ Had he been there the whole time? _ The boy was small and skinny. His obsidian hair contrasted with his pale skin. Percy wondered if this boy had ever been let out of the house. That’s when he noticed his busted lip and bruised eye. Percy swallowed a lump in his throat that had grown from looking at this kid. He looked like he had gone to hell and back. Percy's hand unconsciously drifted up to his own eye. He was about to lose himself in thought when he noticed the boy shooting daggers at him. Percy dropped his hand and turned away. He felt a small nudge on his arm. He looked over to see that his mom was looking over at him expectantly.  _ What had she asked him to do?  _ “Drinks, Percy?” Percy's eyes widened slightly.  _ Oh, that’s what she had asked him to do.  _ Percy nodded, handing over Estelle to his mother.

“W-What can-” Percy stopped himself and cleared his throat. “What can I get you to drink?” Percy asked, holding his chin up higher this time, trying not to seem like he was bothered by their presence here. 

“I’ll just take water, thank you, Perseus.” Percy’s eyes widened and then narrowed.  _ How did this social worker know his real name? _ Percy nodded and turned to the pale boy who was now sitting next to Ms. Dodds on the couch. The boy just stared forward and ignored Percy.

“Okay.” Percy said, dragging out the ‘o’. He left the weird boy and the potentially life-altering social worker with his mom and baby sister. Percy left out a shaky sigh as he filled up the glass cup with water. They still hadn’t told Percy what was going on which was only fueling his anxiety more. Maybe these people sitting on his couch actually were monsters.  _ Maybe Ms. Dodds was a fury sent from Hell. That kid sure looked like he was a skeleton…or a ghost. Maybe he was Hades in disguise. _ Percy snorted at his own thoughts. As if Hades would show himself as a sickly child dressed like a goodwill emo. Percy looked down at his own clothes. They had gotten exceptionally better since his mom had married Paul and her book had taken off.  _ They had sure come a long way from that smelly apartment with…  _ Percy shook himself from that thought. Who was he to judge this random boy in his house for having tattered clothes? Sure he still dressed like a mix of a surfer and a skater but he remembered a time when people would make fun of him for the same exact thing. 

Percy looked down at the glass of water that he had been holding for- well he had lost track of time. He headed back into the living room. 

“It’s already been set in stone that Nico will be staying in Percy’s room. He already has bunk beds in there but I hope to get them both their own beds very soon.” Sally told Ms. Dodds. Percy froze. 

“It takes a special kind of family to take a teenager. Especially one with Nico’s past. I think our main goals here are to get him comfy and to keep him from going back to juvenile hall.” Ms. Dodds said. Percy’s head was spinning.  _ Take a teenager? Stay in Percy’s room? Juvenile hall?  _ Percy’s hands shook, the glass of water slipping from them and shattering on the floor. Ms. Dodds and Sally’s head whipped around to the source of the sound. Percy thought he had seen the pale boy, Nico was it, flinch.  _ Or had it been himself? _

“Perseus!” Sally called out to him. Percy rushed past them, stumbling to his room. Now he was convinced that monsters were real. Ms. Dodds must’ve been mind controlling his mother or maybe she had been possessed by an eidolon and it wasn’t really his mother talking.  _ Stop it, Percy. Monsters aren’t real. But HE was real. This is real.  _ Percy collapsed on his bed, his breath shallow and rapid.  _ What was his mother trying to do? Replace him with this boy? Someone who was slightly less damaged? Impossible! He must’ve been just as damaged as Percy. This Nico…He was all bruised up and a criminal! What was going on?  _ Percy let out a strangled sob.  _ Was their family not enough? It had been his fault that Estelle had almost not been born. His mom probably resented him. He was being replaced.  _

Percy's mental turmoil was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around him. His mom. Percy let out a shaky sob and let himself be held.

“Why is he here?!” Percy cried out. “Are you replacing me because I’m so damaged-”

“Percy, no! Don’t you dare say that! I love you so much!” Sally reassured Percy as she held him tight.

“Then why? He doesn’t belong here!” Percy wailed. 

“You know that Paul and I want a big family. He loves you like his own and now we have Estelle but you know how complicated her birth was, how complicated your birth was. And a while back Paul and I decided it might be a good idea to adopt. We didn’t expect to do it anytime soon but we took the foster parent classes anyways. We forgot all about it for a while and that’s when Ms. Dodds called us about Nico.” Sally rambled on. “She told us he came from a hard background and had been bounced in and out of foster homes and most recently had landed himself in juvie. She told us that when he got out he would need a foster home that wasn’t full of so many other foster kids and that was looking for something more permanent. And well, Perce, Paul and I had never seen ourselves taking in a teenager, especially with you in the house but the more she told us about Nico, the more he reminded me of- well you.” Percy scrunched up his face when he lifted his head to look at her. “We were going to tell you but I guess he got out early.” 

Percy had calmed down by then, but his panic had quickly turned into anger. His sea green eyes darkened as he glared daggers at his mom.

“You brought another criminal in the house?! And around Estelle?! What were you think-” Percy stopped talking when he realized someone else was there. Standing in the doorway was Nico. Percy mouth gaped like a fish. Nico’s expression was hard and cold.

“I was looking for the bathroom.” He spat out. Sally’s head whipped around.

“Nico, honey, I am sorry.” Nico’s icy aura caused Sally to stop her apologises quickly. “The bathroom is the next door down.” Nico hummed in response and disappeared as quickly as he came. Sally turned back to Percy.

“Percy. I need to go talk to Ms. Dodds. Take your time in here.” Sally went back out to the living room. Percy walked over to his door and slammed it dramatically. He hoped that would deter Ms. Dodds from leaving Nico here with them because she thought they were an unfit family. Guilt instantly filled Percy’s stomach as he realized that if Ms. Dodds saw the Jackson-Blofis family as unfit, what did that mean for the kids that were already there? 

Percy lost track of how long he was wallowing in his anxiety because the next thing he knew he was being called for dinner. Percy would’ve stayed laying in bed but his stomach growling told him not to be stupid. Plus, his curiosity about whether Nico was still here or not was stronger than the pull to be consumed in self-pity. Percy pulled himself out of bed with a groan. His bare feet padded against the hardwood floor of the apartment as he made his way to the kitchen, and much to his chagrin there was the same dark-haired, pale boy, sitting at his spot at the kitchen table. Percy could feel his eye twitch as he entered the kitchen.

“What the fuck is this?” Percy asked. All heads turned to face him, even Estelle’s.

“Percy.” Sally warned. 

“Per!” Estelle clapped happily in her high chair. 

“He’s in my seat!” Percy exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“Percy, we don’t have assigned seats in this hous-” Sally was cut off by Percy.

“But I sit there every night! I have since we moved in here!” Percy cried out. Nico looked up at him with an expressionless face. “Move!” Percy yelled at Nico. Nico in fact didn’t move.  _ Was that a smirk?  _ “Mom! He smirked at me!” 

“Perseus.” Sally warned. “Nico didn’t know and you’re making him uncomfortable, so for tonight sit next to Paul.” Percy grumbled and took a seat next to his stepdad. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sit next to him, it was that he always sat next to his mom. Nico was sat across from him and-  _ there was that damn smirk again.  _

Percy grumbled. At least he could count on his mom’s cooking to make him feel better. However, when Percy looked down at his plate of food he was once again disappointed. 

“It’s not blue.” Percy complained, poking the pale, yellow mac and cheese on his plate. Nico quirked an eyebrow up at that comment. Sally sighed.

“Percy, I didn’t want to weird Nico out on his first night.” Sally confessed. Percy’s eyes trailed over to Nico. He snarled.

“He’s not even eating it anyways!” Percy cried out, gesturing to Nico’s plate that had been pushed away from him. Nico blinked at him.

“Percy. He’s in a strange house with strange people. He’s probably not feeling too hungry.” Sally explained.

“He’s the stranger in the house.” Percy growled out.

“Percy-”

“He just comes into my house and-” 

“Percy-”

“A criminal nonetheless! What about Estelle?!” Paul looked between Percy and Sally.

“Perseus, you need to-”

“He doesn’t belong her-”

“Percy!” Sally shouted. Percy flinched instantly.  _ His mom never yelled at him. _ Percy looked down at his plate, shaking slightly. “Percy, I’m so sorry for raising my voice. I-”

“It’s okay.” Percy whispered out. He stabbed at his mac and cheese and showed a bite in his mouth. Sally sighed. The rest of dinner went by slowly and silently- Sally kicking herself the whole time for snapping at Percy, and Percy feeling guilty for making his mom snap. He had to keep reminding himself,  _ his mom was not him. She wouldn’t hurt him like…him.  _

When dinner was over Percy excused himself to the bathroom. He turned on the cold water in the sink and splashed his face. With a breathy sigh, he had calmed down enough to rejoin the real world. When he went back into the kitchen to clear the table and do the dishes, he found that the table had already been cleared and was wiped clean. The sound of the water running confused him. He followed his eyes to the sound and there was Nico, already doing the dishes. Percy was all set to be angry when he realized, what did he have to be mad about this time? This kid was doing his chores. Percy let himself smirk behind Nico’s back.  _ Maybe that’s what this kid was here for, to do all his chores and give him a break.  _ Percy turned to leave only to bump into his mom’s small frame.

“Percy. Nico started dishes, help him rinse, will you?” Sally asked with a small smile on her face. “I have to give Estelle a bath.” Percy sighed. He couldn’t say no with his mom asking so nicely. Especially while looking at the dirty, lopsided grin his sister was wearing. 

“Of course.” Percy told her. He waited until his mom was out of the room and then he grudgingly walked over to the sink, leaning over the counter. He stayed there for a while, watching the smaller boy.

“Are just going to keep staring at me, or are you going to rinse like Sally asked you to?” Nico mused. Percy snorted. He reached his hand into the soapy water that Nico was working at. He brought the soapy hand up to his mouth, making an ‘o’ with his fingers, and blowing as big of a bubble he could before it popped right in Nico’s face. Nico growled in frustration as he wiped off his face. “Y’know what?! Just let me do it! Go away!” Percy smirked triumphantly. He walked back to his room, taking a quick detour to check in on his mom and sister. They were still in the bathroom. Sally and Paul were dancing toys around Estelle’s head and then splashing them into the water. It made Estelle scream in delight and splash the water with her hands. Percy smiled. He hoped nothing could break this family apart.  _ But things were already changing. Nico _ . Percy swallowed hard and walked back to his bedroom. 

Shortly after Estelle’s bathtime, Percy’s mom came in with Nico in tow.

“Percy usually stays on the bottom so I guess that means you get the top bunk. Is that okay?” Sally asked.  _ It’s going to have to be.  _ Nico nodded. Percy grumbled and cuddled into his pillow, turning away from them. His mom rambled on some more about stuff Percy wasn’t listening to. He heard his mom leave, the door shutting, and then silence.  _ Was Nico gone too? _ Percy rolled over to check. His eyes grew wide, a blush appearing on his face instantly. Nico had been undressing and was currently butt-naked in his room.  _ Their room. No, his room.  _ Percy didn’t mean to stare but he couldn’t look away. 

He had realized this wasn’t the first time he had caught himself staring at a boy. When he first started high school and started dating Annabeth, he caught himself staring at their mutual friend, Luke. At lunch, in PE, in the locker room. He had chalked it up to normal teenage hormones, but then he started at Goode and became friends with Jason and he caught himself doing the same exact thing. Although this time…This time was different. Because, Nico had turned around and caught him staring right at him. 

A similar blush covered the face of the pale boy in his room. This time it was Nico’s turn to be speechless. Percy quickly recovered, willing away his blush into an expression of anger.

“Gods! Do you have to do that in here? There’s a bathroom for a reason!” Percy growled out. Nico’s own blush died down and he narrowed his eyes at Percy. He slipped on his clothes and climbed into the top bunk.  _ Smooth, Perce.  _

Percy got up and flipped the light out before jumping into his own bed. The harsh movement caused the whole bed to jiggle. Percy rolled over and tried to will himself to sleep. After a while, Hypnos began to take him. Percy didn’t know if it was a dream or not but before he lost consciousness, he heard soft crying above him. 


End file.
